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(Ne Meden) 2 sheets-sheet 1. L. H. SMITH..

BREEGH LOADING GUN.

188881-888. Petented Apr.,1o. 1888. f

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. H. SMITH.

`BREECH LOADING GUN.

No. 381,088. Patented Apr. 10, 1888.

` @13 his @Hom/w13 double guns, and it has for its object, first, I

maticall y, to

Y barrel and cocking device. Fig. VII is a plan j 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.y

LEROY n. SMITH, OE LIsLE, NEW YORK.

BRI-:ECHL-LOAoiNG GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming 'part of Letters Patent 110.3781988, dated April. 10, 1.888.

v Application tiled January (i, 1888.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEROY H. SMITH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lisle, in'- the county of Broome and State of New York, and doing business at Ithaca; Tompkins county, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Guns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the-same.

This invention relates to that class of breechloading guns called breakdown, hammerless,

to provide means whereby the act of breaking down the gun will cock both hammers; second, to provide means whereby the barrels will engage with the cooking mechanism by the usual act of placing the barrels on the frame of the gun and will disengage therefrom by the mere act of removal after the fore en'd has been removed; third, in means for operating the bolt to both lock and unlock the barrels by positive action, and, fourth, in means for-locking the sears or triggers either by'hand or auto.-

prevent accidental discharge of the gun. To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming a breech-loading gun, hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of a gun, showing my invention with all parts at rest. Fig. II is a similarview to Fig. I, but showing the bolt drawn back, the gun broke down, the hammers cocked, and the triggerslocked. Fig. III is a side elevation of a portion of a gun according to my invention in the act of disengaging the barrel from the stock. Fig. IV is a top view of the block 21, showing the lug of the body 18 in section. Fig. V is a `detail view of a modification' of the hammer and cooking-lever connection. Fig. VI is adetail view showing a modification of the connections between the view of the'sears,l showing also a portion of the Wooden stock in horizontal section. Fig. VIII is a plan view of the rear end of the npper'tang, the thumb-piece thereon, and a 'Serial No. 259,960. (No model.)

portion of the'safetyplate' below it. Fig. IX is an under side view of the frame laid open and showing the remaining parts.

No. 10 represents the frame of the gun, to

.the rear end of which the stock may be attached in any usual manner, and-to the forward end of which the barrels 11` are hungy I upon a breakdown hinge.

13 is the lug 'entering a longitudinal slot in the frame, and having the usual hook, 14, at its rear end to engage the locking-bolt 15, which is constantly pressed forward by a spring, 1.6,

and is slanted on the upper side of its forward y end, tobe forced back by the descending hook 14, so lthat the act of closing the barrels into place pushes the bolt back and the spring 16 pushes it forward, when the hook registers with the bolt'and locks the barrels closed.

17 is the bolt-retracting lever provided with a cyfindrical body, 18, which isjournaled vertically in the frame 10, and oircumferentially grooved at 19l to receive the end of a stopscrew, 20. By this means the body '18 is retai ned'in place after being inserted in its bearl ing at the top side of the gun, thus permitting the lever 17 and body 18 to be made integral or to be secured together permanently.

21 is a block placed upon the bolt 15 and provided with a set-screw, 22, whereby it may be fixed at any point along the bolt to adjust the bolt as to the amount it shall project into the hook .14. The block 21 is transversely slotted on its upper side, and the body 18 has a lug,'22, projecting down like a'screW-driver into this slot. The slot is tapering to closely engage the lug at one end and to give freedom of motion to the lug at the other end, so thaty the block may be moved to and fro, and with.

it the boltl be projected or withdrawn by the act of turning the lever 17 from side to side.`

The block', impelled forward with the bolt by the spring 16, bears against the rear face of the lug 22 and brings-the lever 17 in line with the gun. The adjustability of the block 21 upon the bolt permits the bolt to be set to the exact bearing in the hook desired at the same time that the lug and block bear together, as above described. This adj ustability is of service also in case the parts wear by use.` The lug 22 does IOO the full operation of retracting the bolt by act- Y ing against the rear wall of theslot, and the opposite wall engages the lug in order that the lever 17 may be used to force the bolt home in case the spring 16 should fail to work.

23 represents the hammers, pivoted at 24 in the frame and constantly impelled forward by back-acting springs 25, which are provided with ends 26, projecting beyond the pivots to give rebound to the hammers. Each hammer is provided with' a toe, 27, projecting to engage a corresponding notch in the spring, whereby the end 26 of the spring is maintained always in the proper relation to the pivot 24, even though the spring be placed loosely in its receptacle in the frame. When the hammer strikes, it raises the end 26 of the spring a little, but not enough to throw the toe 27 entirely out of engagement with its notch.

28 represents a pair of cooking-levers permanently connected at their forward ends by a. cross-bar, 29, with which a hooked stirrup, 30, depending from the lug 13, engages and hung midway upon pivots 53 to the frame.

, The rear ends of the cooking-levers are rounded to engage bearings in rockers 31, which rockers arejournaled in the hammers 23. The act of breaking down the gun cocks both hammers by the stirrup 3() raising the forward ends of the cocking-levers, and thereby depressing their rear ends and the forward end of the rockers, thus bringing the cooking-lever and the rocker into line with a knuckle-joint action, forcing the hammers back on their pivots.

32 is an arm of the rocker, projecting above the bearing to guide the lever 28 into the bearing on its return to action after the disengagement caused by closing the gun and rocking the hammers, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. I.

A roller, 33, Fig. V, would serve as a modication of the rocker 3l, provided the spring be in some way secured against longitudinal displacement. In this case there would be nearly the same knuckle-joint action as with the rocker, the hammer being forced to fullcock when the lever and roller are on line of centers. i The forward end of the lng 13 has a semicircul-ar bearing opening forward to engage the hinge-pin 12, which is fixed in the frame.

The hand-rest 34, called the fore end, is removably secured to the barrels, its rear end being shaped as a portion of a bearing to fit and rotate upon the forward end of the frame, which is shaped in that locality as part of a cylinder concentric with the hinge-pin 12. The stirrup 30 is flattened at its upper end to permit a spring, 35, to` bear both sides of center to return the stirrup to its normal lposition 'when relieved, after being swung either way therefrom. This stirrup is adapted to swing, in order thatit may be pressed to one side by the cross-bar 29 when the barrels areu being placed on the frame, and its spring 35 forces its hook into engagement with the bar when it passes the same, and the swing of :the-stirrup further permits it tofollow the arc-of the cocking-levers. So long as the barrels are securely and enlarged at both ends,

hinged to the frame the stirrup remainshooked to the cross-bar; but when the fore end is removed half the hinge-joint is 'taken away, and the barrels may be moved backward and upward out of engagement with thehinge-pin 12, and this movement disengages thehook of the stirrup from the cross-bar, thus liberating the barrels without any special act being made to disengage therefrom the cocking device. For this purpose the hook of the stirrup is made with its open side forward and facing inthe same direction as the open side ofthe bearing in the4 lug 13 of the hinge-pin 12. A fixed hook or pin, 36, on the lug, and a stirrup, 37,

be a mere transposition of parts and a modification of the above device, adapted to connect the barrels with the cocking device by the act of placing the barrel von the frame,and adapted to automatically disengage therefrom in the act of raising the barrel rearward from the hinge-pin. On whichever member the hook may be attached or formed, whether on the barrel or on the opening must be at that side corresponding with the hinge-opening, so that parting the hinge will part the hook from the cross-bar.

'One very important result of this construction is that it enables the barrel to be removed without cooking the' hammers,so that the gun may be parted for packing without leaving the hammers cocked; or, if the hammers may first be cocked before the fore end is removed, and then the gun be parted, leaving the hammers cocked.

38 represents the sear which catches the hammer to hold it cocked. It is common to make the sears with a rectangularoset, as

shown in dotted lines 39, Fig. VII; but I give 'I them-oblique offsets 54, to reach the arms 40,

cocking device, the hook-- it be an object,4

where the triggers 55 bear near the central plane of the gun, to prevent cutting away the wood of th'e stock and leaving thin cheeks 41.

55 represents the triggers pivoted at 43 in the frame.

44 is a push pin journaled to slid'e vertically in bearings in the tangs of the frame,and located to stand up'on the rear ends of the trig- 45 is the safety-plate,slotted through to pass freely vforward and back at both sides of the upper end of the push-pin.

IIC

46 is a shoe mounted freely on the push-pin,

and having a tooth, 47, at one end to engage any one of three notches shown in the under side of the safety-plate..

48 is a spring acting between a shoulder of thepush-pin and the shoel to keep the shoecatch in frictional engagement with the safetyplate, and by pushing the push-pin down upon the triggers to serve as a spring for the latter. The slot in the safety-plate is narrow midway (see Fig. VII 1,) and the pin is small enough along its'upper portion to pass freely through the narrow portion of the slot; but it is enlarged below and provided with a shoulder, 49, which will pass through the safety-plate only at the enlarged ends ofthe slot. When the safety-plate stands in its middle position, the pin will not rise through it, and its lower end standing on the triggers prevents their being worked and prevents the gun from being fired; but when the safety-plate is at either of its end positions the pin will pass up through it and permitthe triggers to work. The forward end of the safety-plate has a downward offset, 50, crossing the path` of the locking-bolt 15,in such relationthereto that vwhen the bolt is pressed back` by the act of closing the gun, both hammers having 4been cocked by the actof open-- ing it, the safety-platewill be thereby pushed to its lmiddle position,if it had before been forward, and prevent the release of the hammers.v

51 is a thumb-piece on top of the tang, and' connected with the safety-plate by a stud, 52, passing through a slot in the tang, whereby the safety-plate may be slid to and fro. A1n

the tlimb-piece 5l I place theconventional window through which the word Safe,

stamped in the tang, may be seen when the plate is in its middle position, the thumbpieee covering the word Safe when ateither of the end positions. It would require only a slight change of position of the-push-pin to adapt it to act on the sears exactly in thev manner that it does now on the triggers. That would be a modification so evident that a special.

drawing of it is deemed unnecessary. And the ends of the push-pin may be bored to receive and slide upon stud-wires fixed in the tang instead. of entering` the tang,as they now do. If the block 21 were rigidly xed on or integral with the bolt 1.5, and provided withthe transverse 'tapering slot described, some of the advantages of this invention would be obtained, and it is evident that a parallelsided slot in the block engaged by a tapering lug on the bolt-retractor would be an equivalent of my invention deseribed,and that either style of slot might be made in the retraetor t0 engage the corresponding style of lug made to project from the bolt-block by mere transposiplate 45 were a mere guide to direct the pushtion of parts andeorrespond with the invention hereinbefore described. Since the slot is wider at one end than at the other merely to give free play at one side to the lng at that end, the same effect would be produced if the whole wall were eut away at the forward side, leaving only a stud standing to engage thelug at the narrow end. There is `no novelty'in the hinge joining the barrels wit-h the frame, 'and any hinge whose mated halves may be parted as described will answer the purpose. If the safetypin to holes or to an abutment on the tang, its forward end offset into the path of the lockingbolt 15, as shown, would obtain some of the advantages of- 1ny invention.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following:

1. The combination of a gun-frame, a barrelcured upon the bolt, and means for engaging the block with ther retractor, substantially as shown-and described. v 2. The combination of a locking-bolt for a` breakdown gun, a block fitted to slide longitudinally upon the said bolt and adapted to, engage a bolt-retractor, and a setserew in the', said block, substantially as shown and deseribed.- l .i

3'. Thecombination of a gun-frame, a barrel hinged at the forward end thereof to break down, a lockingbolt fitted to slide in the frame to engage thebarrel, a spring fitted to impel the bolt constantly forward, a block longitudinally adjustable upon the locking-bolt and transverselyl slotted with a tapering slot on its upper side, a bolt-retractor vertically journaled in the gun-frame and provided 'with au external lever, and having a lug projecting into the said slot .in the, bolt-block, 'engaging the whole .rear wall ofthe slot and one end of the front wall, substantially as shown and described, whereby parts may be adjusted to hold the barrel seeurely,and at the same time I to hold the bolt-retractor lever in line on the gun-tang, as set forth.

4. The combination of-a pivotal gun-hammer,having a toe projecting at one side of the pivot, and a return-bend spring therefor,hav

ing an upward bearing lat its end against the frame ofthe gun and a downward bearing at roo its bend, and having anoteh fitted to engage I the said toe, the end of the said spring pro-l jecting beyond the saidnot-eh to engage the hammer beyond its pivot, whereby` the ham-- mer is first impelled to strikefits blow and afterward caused to rebound-and the spring is maintained in proper relation to the hammer, substantially as shown and described. 5. The combination of a gun-frame, a, pair of hammers pivoted near their lower ends therein, arocker journaled in each hammer above its pivot, a pair of levers permanently vconnected at their forward ends bya cross-bar and hung midway upon pivots to the frame. their rear ends being rounded to engage the said'roekers, a pair of gun-barrels hinged to the forward part of the frame, anda hook having its open side forward connecting the barrels with the said cross-bar, substantially as shown and described.

6.The combination of a pair of gun-hammers pivoted near their lower ends, a pair of cocking-levers'hung midway upon pivots forward of the hammers and having rounded rearends, and a pair of rockers journaled in the hammers above the pivots thereof and provided with open bearings to receive the said IlO rounded ends of the cooking-levers, and with an arm upon each rocker'projecting above the 13o said bearing, substantially as shown and described. I

Correction vir] Letters Patent No.:A 381,088.

e. v y381,088

The combination, with a gun-hammer and a cooking-lever therefor, substantially as described, of a rocker pivoted to the hammer and provided with anopen bearing to receive 5 the end ofthe lever, and with a guidingarm extending beyond the bearing at4 one side thereof.

8; The combination of a gun-frame having a hinge-pin Vfixed in its forward end, a pair of gun-barrels having a downward-projecting lug to engage the frame, the said lug having a bearing opening forward to engage the said hinge-pin, a pair of cocking-levers hung in the frame and connected by a cross-bar, and a hook depending from the said lug, with its open side forward to engage the said cross bar,

substantially as'sliown and described. 9. The combination, with a gun-frame provided with a hingepin, a barrel or barrels hinged upon the said pin by a bearing opening at one side,and a cooking lever or levers hung in the frame, of a hook and cross-bar adaptedv to engage the -barrels with the said levers, the said hook being open at that side which permits it-to disengage the said cross-bar by the act of moving the barrel in the direction to remove its hinge-bearing from the hinge-pin, substantially as shown and described.

l0. The combination of a gun-barrel, a lug projecting therefrom having an open or halfhiuge bearing, and a hook and cross bar adapted to engage each -other to connect the barrels with a cooking device, the said hook being open on that side adapted to dsengage the cross-bar, and thereby to disengage the barrel from the cooking device by the actof parting the said half-hinge from its mate', substantially` as shown and described.

11. The combination of a gun-frame having one member of a hinge open at the rear side formed on its forward end, a barrel or barrels provided with a .portion of the opposite member of the said hinge open on its forward side, la`coclring device hung in the frame, a hook and a cross-bar connecting the barrels'with the said cocking device, the two aforesaid mem improvement in reech-Loading Guns,

[SEAL] Oountersign'ed g BENTON J. HALL, v

' Commissioner bf Patents.

Ybers of the hinge and the said hook all being open on corresponding sides, whereby the two parts of the hinge may be disengaged from each other, and the hook may be disengaged 5o from the cross-bar by moving the barrel rearward and upward, as set forth.

12. The combination of a gun-frame, one or more triggers pivoted therein, a push pin journaled to slide in bearings in the frame and 5 5 stepped near one end upon the triggers, and provided with an enlargement and a shoulder thereto near the other end, a safety-plate tted to slide under the tang, and having a nar- 'row slot to receive the small upper end of the 6c said pin, the slot being enlarged at each end, the plate having also three notches in its under side, a shoe mounted freely on the pushpin, and having a tooth to engage either of the said notches in the safety-plate,` and a spring 65 acting between the push-pin and the shoe, substantially as shown and described.

13. The combination of the triggers, pushpins stepped thereon, the notched safety-plate at one end thereof, the shoe having a tooth to 7.o engage the said notches, and a spring between the shoe and pin, substantially as shown and described.

14. The combination of `a gun locking bolt, triggers, the push-pin stepped on'the triggers, 7 5 and the slotted safety-plate fitted to slide past the end of the pin, and having an oset into 1 'the path of the bolt, substantially as shown and described. Y

15. Thecombination of 'a gun-locking bolt, 8c triggers and a'push-pin stepped thereon, and a plate fitted to slide beneath the tang and adapted to stop or release the pin from action, the said plate having anl odset into the path of the locking-bolt, substantially as show-n and 8f described.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of t-wo'witnesses. Y

A l LEROY H. SMITH. Witnesses: i

P. G. ELLsWoR'rH, FRANK M. LEARY.-

It is hereby certified that Letters Patent No. 381,088, granted April 10, 1888', for an was erroneously issued to the inventor, Leroy H. Smith, his heirs or assigns,77 as owner of lsaid invention; whereas thepatent should have'been granted to The-Ithaca Gun, Company, of Ithaca, .New York, its 'successors or assigns, the owner of the. entire interest, as shown by the assignments of record in the Patent Oce; that the proper .correction has been made in the files and records pertaining to the case inthe Patent Office, and should be read in the said Letters Patent that the same mayn conform thereto.

Signed, countersignedand sealed this 17th day of April, A. D. 1888.

y D. L. HAWKINS, Assistant Secretary of the-Interior.

It` is hereby certified that Letters Patent No. 381,088, granted April 10, 1888, for an improvement in Breeoh-Loading Guns, Was erroneously issued to the inventor, Leroy H. Smith, his heirs or assigns, as owner of said invention; Whereas the patent should have been granted to The Ithaca Gan Company/,of Ithaca, New yYork, its sneeessors or assigns, the owner of the entire interest, as shown by the assignments 0f reeord in the Patent Office; that the proper correction has been made in the les and records pertaining to the oase in the Patent Ofoe, and should be read in the saidLetters Patent that the same may conform' thereto.

Signed, eonntersigned, and sealed this 17th day of April, A. D. 1888.

' D. L. HAWKINS,

[SEAL] Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Countersigned BENTON J. HALL,

Oommzsstoner of Patents. 

